


Fool's Facade

by MandaloreRat



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29494641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MandaloreRat/pseuds/MandaloreRat
Summary: The Mandalorian way of life was quite violent. What a surprise. But when you're raised in it from a young age, how much does it matter anymore? How long do you have until your concern for other's wellbeing is only....lackluster? Taro would ask himself how long it would be until he stopped caring, and then realized one day, when he couldn't recognize the awful things he was doing in connection to himself, it happens sooner than you think. How did he get here? And what kind of person prefers to see a helmet instead of his own face?





	1. New Beginnings

"Hurry up! We have less than ten minutes to get out, Thera!"

"I hear you I hear you okay!" Thera yelled back to her sister, turning her attention back to the lock she was picking, turning her pin till she heard a pop, swinging the door open to a small storage room, a storage room where this shop happened to hold all their credits. She went inside and studied the locks on the cases, all simple, she picked the quickly like she had the door, calling her siblings inside, they quickly poured the credits into the two satchels they had, running out while she shut the now empty cases

Thera slammed the door closed, re-locking it as fast as she could and ran through the halls of the building after her siblings, pulling her hood back around her face, shoving back her short brown hair, they skidded to a stop at the corner, hearing their other brother, Maron, speaking to someone, "No, no, we're just movers, hired by the company!" 

She couldn't see what was happening, her brother, Shiya pushing himself to be completely covering her, but the voice got angrier, "The company doesn't hire Iktotchi like you, idiot, it's human only. What are you doing here?" Two people were getting closer to him, she could see, one of them grabbed his collar, lifting him slightly, he struggled against them, kicking into their chest, causing them to drop him and back away, unclipping the latch covering their blaster on their hip. 

Lakona stepped forward to stop them as Shiya stayed still, protecting Thera behind him as she tried to see what was going on, "Leave him alone!" The man didn't pay any attention to her, lifting his weapon higher as his companion backed away, clearly not prepared for the situation, Maron grabbed the blaster his mother had trusted him with, shooting the man several times in the chest. He staggered backward, falling to the floor, as Maron realized what he had done

Blood splattered across Maron's body, the man fell to the floor, eyes glossing over as his companion shrieked, running as fast as she could to the exit, Maron had dropped the weapon, realizing what he did as a look of horror spread across his face, "I didn't mean to!" His voice was shrill, crouching down against the nearest wall, Lakona grabbed the blaster and pointed it towards the woman, sending a few bolts after her, all of which missed

"We need to leave" Shiya spoke suddenly, leaving Thera to pull Maron from his slump, dragging him towards the door and heaving him over his shoulder, his brother smaller than him, they all ran towards the doorway, bursting through as the woman sped off, the group sprinting to their land speeder, Shiyu in the driver's seat with their mother next to him, his expression turned grim when he saw the blood on his eldest brother

Shiya practically slammed Maron into the back, helping Thera and Lakona inside before climbing in himself, it was a tight fit for a family with five children, but they didn't have any other choice, "What happened?!" Nora turned to her children in a frantic voice, surveying the damage as the speeder's engine roared to life, screeching loudly as it shot from its space, they all got some whiplash from it

"Nothing good! A dead body and a witness! She probably saw all of us, so we are effectively dead!" Lakona lashed out in a retort obviously directed to Maron, still shaking and curled up in his seat, Thera shook her head, "Shiya was covering me, she never even looked at me, I think I'm safe, Shiyu and Mom too" Shiya sighed, "Not if she saw them as she got on her speeder," Nora nodded, "She looked directly at me" That earned a groan from nearly everyone, prepared for the worst

"You're headed to Elara's, right?" Shiya asked his twin brother, the mirialan hummed in affirmation, "Nowhere else to go" Their mother closed her eyes, an unpleasant noise coming from her, somewhere between a groan and a fake sob, "She's not going to like that, not at all" Everyone knew that, but somewhere they didn't know anyone was much more of a risk for their capture, a bounty should be up in about an hour, they would have not only the Corellian security force after them but bounty hunters as well. The most violent and dirty scum in the universe, at least from the eyes of a criminal. "Let's hope she even bothers to open the door once we get there"

. . .

"No" Elara said, slamming the door in their faces, Nora sighed, knocking again, waiting until she opened the door again, "I said no, alright? Your idiot children have bounties on their heads, I'm not going to be apart of that" Nora grabbed the door before she could close it again, putting on a soft tone, "I've always been very close to you Ela, please? We've known each other 2 years now. I like to think if you let me in, my family would do the same for your family" Elara groaned, rubbing her face and grabbing Nora's hand

"Fine, I'll let you in, but I swear if you're caught and I'm dragged into it, I'm never doing anything for you again" Nora smiled, her eyes wrinkling slightly, "Thank you" Her voice was warmer than it had been before, Elara seemed to make her peace with it, opening the door and stepping back, they all shuffled into the corner they often stayed, setting down their bags

Thera set down her things, sighing and sitting on a crate nearby, holding her head in her hands and letting out a low groan, exhausted and fearful. Lakona sat next to her, opening her bag and getting out an antibacterial cloth, wiping her gloves with it, "You should use one too, it isn't smart to have dirtied gloves" 

She was distracting them from the horrors of the situation, it was evident, but it was welcome. Thera took the cloth that she passed, wiping down her gloves and looking at her clothes, she had been wearing them for almost four days now, she was starting to stink, but her life didn't allow for the proper time to clean herself, "You think we'll be okay after this? After we get away?" Shiya was sitting a few feet behind them, scrubbing the muck from his boots, Lakona and Thera glanced to each other, then back to their hands, "I hope so" Thera quietly mumbled, her defeated tone wasn't instilling faith in anyone

Nora was wiping down the face of her eldest with a rag until the blood came off, he was completely silent, staring down at the floor while she scrubbed the stains from his hands, quivering slightly as she did so, they all watched with worry. "Thera!" A voice called out, she looked to the source, Anure had come from the back of the shop, wiping his hands still, his jumpsuit had a large oil stain on the front, she figured he must have been fixing a ship. She jumped off the crate and went to him, their lips meeting softly, but she didn't share the same excitement as he did

He pulled back, his brows knitted in concern, "What's wrong?" She sighed, not meeting his eyes, "We messed up, really bad, it might be in a broadcast now, we had a witness" Anure shook his head, "Why would they do that? You're just thieves"

Thera moved his head over, gesturing to Maron, Anure's eyes widened in shock as he noticed the blood still on his horns, looking back to her and swallowing in discomfort, "How many people?" She closed her eyes, keeping her voice low, "Just one, but I think the witness was a friend of theirs" She heard him make a small noise, mumbling a small "Maker.."

The uncomfortable silence stayed for a few minutes, the severity of the situation becoming even more real to her now that she had told someone, "I'm sorry you had to see that" He took her hands in his, looking down at her, "I'll be fine, at least I'm not a kid anymore" He mustered a small smile, "Like 23 is any better" She shook her head, "Yeah, well, you're only 20, so respect your elders"

He laughed, looking at her again with a much more serious look, "Don't just joke about it and act like it doesn't matter, it matters and I don't want you to have to go through that" Anure grasped onto her hand, pulling it up to his face and resting his lips against her knuckles in a gentle kiss, she sighed and lifted her other hand to her forehead, pushing back her hair as her face dropped, her eyebrows gently lifting

"Hey, it's alright" He reminded lightly in a gentle voice, putting his other hand on her shoulder and caressing her softly, "I love you, Thera, don't forget" He pulled her against his chest in a tight hug, she nodded lightly, the embrace continued for a few seconds until she pulled back, looking back to her family

"At least I can see you more now that I'll be living here in this.." "Dingy shop that barely gets enough business to survive?" He filled in for her, she didn't say anything more but gave him a knowing look, they walked together back to the group just as Shiyu was pouring the bag of credits out onto the floor, he and Lakona sat across from each other counting it, focusing intently as Shiya watched with a blank expression, Nora still mumbling to her adopted son to reassure him, well that sounded misleading, they were all adopted but were still her children none the less

Maron was her eldest, then Lakona, the twins, being Shiyu and Shiya, and finally Thera. The only one's who shared a species were the biological brothers, and Nora and Lakona, both being twi'lek, but Nora was a deep green while her daughter was a light blue. Thera was the only human, which was strange for most cases, but with her family, she didn't mind it. The species they were never really mattered much anyway, and humans weren't always so interesting

Thera didn't look particularly special, and if she were in a crowd of humans, you wouldn't be able to pick her out unless you knew her. Her skin was light, only slightly tanned, with dark brown hair that was cut short around her shoulders, the only thing people often noticed about her was her light green eyes, calm and tranquil inside. Two freckles were above her right eyebrow, the only markings on her body other than the scars on the palms of both her hands, received after a piece of equipment meant to shock the holder unexpectedly went off, leaving nasty burn scars in the shape of the handles. She had a balanced body type, standing at 5'6

Anure shared only one similarity with his significant other, that being the dark brown hair, his skin was much darker, his nose gently hawked, his eyes a dark black that you could lose yourself in, no markings on his body, he was much taller and thinner than her, standing at 5'11, intimidating for those who weren't aware of his warm personality

She realized she had been staring at the ground as she thought about her family, snapping out of it and looking back to her siblings as they finished counting the credits and announced it out loud, "A little over three thousand, if we spread it out we should have enough to live off of for.." Lakona was silent as her head fell into her hands, closing her eyes and thinking about it

"A little over four months, just on its own, and that's being generous, living in Corellia isn't cheap" Nora had turned to listen, nodding solemnly and setting down the damp rag, filled with bloody water, "Elara? What do you have?" There was an audible huff coming from the older woman, she leaned against her son's ship a few feet from them, staying on her datapad to act like she wasn't listening, despite the fact everybody saw through the ruse

"Our little shop here makes just over a thousand credits a month, and that's barely enough to keep our lights on and feed the two of us, now that there's going to be seven people living here, you're on your own money-wise, I need those leftover credits for myself"

Her voice was brash and dry with her age, somewhere in her late fifties but pretending she was still in her twenties, the responsibility she held exhausted her, and she threw most of it to the side, including the responsibility of being emotionally available for her son, "Alright, thank you for letting us in again, we won't forget it, Elara"

Nora was as kind as ever to her, it made Thera mad to see how kind her mother was to somebody who only ever snarled out her words, Thera couldn't bear to meet the woman cruel eyes, despite sharing them with Anure, her only child, and to their knowledge, only family member as well. "If we can somehow stretch it out across those four months, then where are we going to get the money after that? We can't go out and rob another place, the risk is too high" Shiya chimed in, voicing the question they had all been thinking, silence filled the room, broken by Anure as he raised his voice

"I have an idea" He made his voice more assertive than Thera had ever heard it, it surprised her, bringing her attention, "The Nightcrew. I overheard the mechanics from that place a few streets away talking about it when I went to pick up fuel, the group is looking for somebody to stick around and fix their speeders, they break them too often to keep going to different people, so they want somebody to work for them, everyone has heard about how good they pay" As soon as he stopped speaking Thera began

"No! No, you can't! They're too dangerous, don't you remember when Levy stopped working for them? All he did was transport them, and once he got out..." She found it too hard to say it, her insides churning at the thought, Shiya chimed in to help her, "They tore him to pieces. He was scattered up the street, they had to wash down the entire area to get the blood off the asphalt, and to get rid of the smell of rotting carcasses" Even just the words made her want to vomit, she had seen it despite her older siblings attempts to pry her away, she couldn't help but look, and it had haunted her for years

"I'm not saying that it's a good decision, but there's nothing else that could support us as well as working for them would. Levy made the mistake of telling them upfront he didn't want to work for them anymore, but once I get enough, I can leave without letting them know, let you have all the money, if I need to, I'll leave the planet" Thera still didn't agree with him, it was reckless and stupid, she knew there weren't better options, but the image of him being torn apart in a street like Levy was flashed across her mind, it terrified her to allow them to work for a group so dangerous

"They're thieves like us, but more dangerous, and they kill people. They are nothing like us, don't you dare justify it!" Maron picked his head up, looking at her and mumbling quietly, "We kill people now, I chose that decision" The way he said it was suffocating, nobody had a good response to him, so the painful silence was prolonged until somebody could choke something out

That somebody was Anure, with his rebuttal, "Let me do this! It's stupid but it will work, it's just as dangerous as any other option, and since I'm not apart of your group, I'm the only one who can do it. Just please, let me make a bad choice for once, it will help so much more than it will hurt us if you just let me do this!" 

Thera didn't have anything more to say, looking to Elara, who was barely glancing towards him, she shrugged, "If you're so adamant about it, I won't stop you" Nobody else who was willing to testify against the idea, only giving guilty glances that told her they would rather let him endanger herself, and she was outnumbered just like that

Anure continued, "I'll try to set it up tonight, they aren't hard to find when you're looking for them" The Nightcrew was a gang of outlaws, thieves, but known for how bloodthirsty they could be, often killing anyone in their way, the outskirts of Corellia knew the group especially well, but the entire system had their own incidents with them

The room was quiet, Elara left as she busied herself in her datapad, and Anure went to the backroom, Thera wanted to try to knock it out of him, but she already knew it was no use, he would do it for the greater good, not just one person, even if it was her. She sat beside Nora, Maron continuing his silence, a sad look on her mothers face, "I don't like it any more than you do, but you know how he is, I'm sorry, Thera"

It meant nothing at this point, he was self-sacrificing, and they were all selfish, letting him practically throw himself in front of a speeding transport just for the money, she didn't care if it was to survive, there were other ways, there were always other options. Defeated, she moved next to Shiya, who frowned to see how distressed she was

"I don't think there's anything I can say to make this better, but just know, it will get better. It always does, just think about it. All of us were given up as babies, and then mom took us in, gave us a home, no it's not perfect, but we didn't have the luxury of being born into a well-off family. We do our best with what we have, and something is rewarding about that" She nodded, he was stating something they knew, and it brought no comfort to her, but she would pretend it did for his sake

"Everything feels so dangerous now, living is different, different than it was an hour or two ago. Something tells me I could have done more, I should! Have done more. But I can't change anything that happened, I'm glad I was able to protect at least one family member of mine"

Thera smiled at that, picking up her head so she could look him in the eye, "Always my protective big brother, huh?" He chuckled, he had always been the one quickest to stand up for her, protecting her no matter what, sometimes she wondered if he liked her more than he liked Shiyu, as he seemed to spend much more time with her, "Something like that. I'll do my best, right now all I can see on the horizon is potential issues, but the future can't be all bad, right? Let's see what there is in store" 

. . .

. . . 

Seven months since the start of it all, Thera wondered how she ever got through it, and how time had passed so quickly, but things were looking up, though it was dangerous work, Anure had been bringing in enough credits to support all of them, having a reserve built up for if they ever needed to run quickly. Some nights he would come home with cuts across his face, Thera knew it was from the leader of the group, which he wasn't allowed to say the name of, it had hardened him to a point, physical pain didn't seem to bother him as much, or people raising their voice at him, it was convenient, but that didn't mean it was a good thing, and deep down, they all saw him slowly changing to accept the treatment more, even listening to Elara more often than he would normally, he was losing his resilience for the chance to keep his job, Thera worried for him, but being lost herself, she didn't know how to help him. She blamed herself once she noticed he didn't comment about pain from the burns on his hands anymore 

She took a deep breath, sat on the rooftop of the dingy workshop she had been living in for nearly a year now. Her neck strained from the work she had absorbed herself into, there was a small ship they had been fixing, it was designed for only one or two people, so they knew it couldn't be used for the entire group, but much of the credits Anure had made went towards new parts for the ship, it sold for a good lot when it worked, and they were almost finished

The money from it would go toward buying a better, bigger ship, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it, for now, their lives were consumed with getting the ship to top condition, and it would eventually lead to getting off the planet without getting caught

'Their' lives wasn't right, most of their lives. Elara didn't help at all, as they expected, she seemed to have a growing appreciation for the fizzy type of alcohol that came from Shili, getting you completely drunk before you even realized you weren't talking normally anymore, but given she could kick them out at all moment, they all served her every whim, it made Thera disgusted

The ship was almost finished, then it would only be a short while until they could leave, finding a new planet to start new lives on

She drank from her cantine slung over her side, getting up and stretching out the weariness, lying to herself and saying that it did something as she trotted back down the steps inside, admiring the small ship that her mother was scrubbing the outside off, polishing the metal to be a shinning gleam, it reminded her of a metal she had seen only once before, used for the weapons of the empire, what was it called? Bes....bes something. It would come to her later

"Mom, you don't need to stress over it, it looks great already" She set her hand on her mother's shoulder, who jumped slightly though she had heard her voice, "Trust me Ther, things always sell better when they look nice and new. I've got one good eye to see this ship with, and I can see that it isn't nearly good enough to get all the money we need"

She grinned at the dedication of her mother, "How do you do it?" She asked before thinking about the question, Nora looked to her with a questioning face, "Do what?" She asked, Thera snapped back to it, "I mean, how do you not.....give up? You make jokes like nothing is wrong....I don't get it" Nora smiled reassuringly, looking at her daughter with something she hadn't seen before, a look that made her wonder how much her mother knew about her without telling her

"I always want to give up, constantly Thera. At least, I did for a long time. When I had just adopted five children, everything was overwhelming and terribly difficult, especially being on my own and being dirt poor, but I made it through by hoping for the next day to bring something good. I'd hope that the next day could let me feed all of you and myself, that some miracle would happen, and often, nothing happened. I would go another day hungry while you survived off of scraps. But every once in a while, I would have enough to feed all of us! A wallet would be dropped, and if I was able to I would love to return it, but given my scenario, I just couldn't do that. Hope keeps me going, and basing it off of something is much easier"

Nora took a long pause, Thera was wondering if she was done before she spoke again, "When it was just based off of a blind hope the next day would be better, things were still awful, but when I have the hope that something that could possibly happen will happen soon? It makes it a whole lot easier"

Thera kept the words to herself, thinking over them as Nora started to furiously scrub at the metal outside of the ship again, she stepped forward, "Uh, mom? Let me, you should get some rest" Nora handed the steel pad to her and uttered a small thanks she wasn't paying attention to, disappearing around the end of the ship, giving her a long time to think about what she had said as she scrubbed dirt and stains off the outside, coincidentally rubbing the skin of her palms red too, Nora's must have been worse

It was silent for nearly an hour, the rest of the family asleep or busy with other tasks, Thera was almost done with the outside of the ship, but the front shield for the cockpit was dirty, her mother was right, and she underestimated just how much cleaning the ship needed

Her skin had become red and sore as she worked on the ship, the steel pad tearing away skin at this point, and the cleaning solution burning, it slowly became more uncomfortable, but she finished, tossing everything aside as she stood up and admired her work, lifting her hands into the air in victory, laughing to herself as she stumbled to the sink and poured cool water over her palms, patting them dry just as the main door, opened, Anure stepping inside

She smiled and waved to him, he looked horribly exhausted as always, slowly walking over to her as the door swung shut, setting the case of credits for the day on the nearest surface, she moved out of the way as he washed his hands, collecting water in his palms and splashing it into his face, rubbing it off with his sleeve

Anure emitted a low tired groan as he slumped back onto the crate next to the station, Thera took the nearest cloth and rubbed the dirt off his face gently, giving him a second before she bothered him, "A normal day?" He nodded as she combed her fingers through his hair, noticing how oily it was, not just naturally, but with the product from the ships she knew he had been working on

"A normal day. Not a great one, but I knew that going into this" He tapped his fingers across his thigh, she figured it was a way to let out his anxiety, she had seen him doing it frequently in the past few months, "They didn't hurt you?" He shook his head to that, "They didn't hurt me, surprisingly

"Good, just because you decided to work for them doesn't mean they get to hurt you, no matter how reckless that decision was" That elicited a short grin from him, she leaned in to kiss him, taking as long as she wanted, nobody was around. "Work on the ship is going well I hope?" He started once she had finally had enough, she nodded, revealing her still red palms to him from her work, "All nice and shiny clean, thanks to me" He took her hands forward, kissing the bottoms of them, she laughed and pushed him off, "You really should shave, your face is getting all scruffy" He hummed, propping his hand up and leaning into it, "And that's a bad thing? I'm not allowed to have facial hair?" 

She shook her head, "Not as much as you have now, it's scratchy, and hides too much of your face" He laughed genuinely for the first time in the day, grinning with his quite crooked teeth, not so lucky to have been blessed with a straight row, "Oh, what the charmer now, that isn't just an insult hidden as a compliment, right?"

"Of course not! Do you truly think so little of me?" She retorted, she may have used a joking attitude, but she truly didn't like how much the thick stubble had hidden the features she was familiar with, if she was to be honest she would have preferred he never gave it the time to grow at all, "Alright alright, I'll shave, but only for your sake, I wouldn't do it if it was just for Lakona" She lightly cupped his face in her palm, "Well I would hope you wouldn't do it for Lakona" 

She pressed a kiss to the bridge of his nose, pulling away, "And back to the topic of the ship, we just need a few cosmetic changes and to fix the wiring, then we should be done, finally" He seemed relieved to hear it, standing up and stretching out, rubbing his eyes, "I'm going to turn in early I think, I didn't sleep last night, so now might be my one chance. Do you want to join me?" 

She smiled, it was the first time he had ever offered the chance to her, but they had become closer recently, it was comforting to hear him ask, "Sure, I'll change and be there in a moment" He nodded and went to the back of the shop where his room remained, she grabbed a more comfortable set of clothes from her bag and changed quickly in the bathroom, trudging back and knocking on the door, he didn't open it but instead called for her to come inside, the turned the handle and poked her head in, his room had a very small bathroom, the door was open so she peered inside, grinning with satisfaction as she saw that he was finally getting rid of the thick stubble, leaning against the doorway and watching as he slowly guided the razor down his face, finishing and wiping his face off with a towel, turning to her and jutting out his arms a little, "So?"

"Much better, I heavily prefer this over...yeah" He rolled his eyes and sauntered over, bending down to kiss her now that she shouldn't have any complaints, giving himself as much time as he wanted and pulling the both of them over to his bed, already changed into much more comfortable clothing and pressing himself up to the wall, the bed was too small for more than one person, he hoped she wouldn't mind the close quarters, but she really didn't, pulling the covers over herself and resting her head against his chest as he loosely draped his arms around her, she smiled in content, leaning closer and relaxing in comfort

Maybe tomorrow would be an alright day too. It wasn't guaranteed, since the future seemed to be one thing or the other, but she had to have hope. "Goodnight Thera" He muttered to her, already nodding off in exhaustion, "Goodnight" Soon after they had both fallen asleep, undisturbed through the night, and at comfort

. . .

"You are single-handedly the biggest disappointment to have ever come out of my life Anure! I could deal with you at first, but this? Maker, I would have hoped you had the decency to ask me before sleeping with her!" Screaming. Thera woke up to screaming, maybe the worst thing to hang up to, picking her head up and wiping her blurry eyes, trying to focus on what was happening before her, "I didn't do anything with her! And why do you even give a damn? I'm 21! I can do whatever the hell I want!" Anure slammed the door shut, the screams continued, though muffled, until stopping. Anure shakily sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, turning back to Thera

"Sorry you had to be woken up by that. You know my mom" Thera nodded lightly, "Did she say anything interesting?" Anure began to shake his head but stopped, slowly smiling, "Well, she did say I should marry you"

"Wow, some real faith in our relationship" Thera sat up, stretching as she noticed he was already dressed, he must have been up for a while before Elara came to scream at him, "Is she drunk already?" Thera asked, exhausted, Anure rested his face in the palm of his hand, "At least a bit, she was slurring her words. If she was fully drunk she wouldn't have been able to stand, much less coherently yell at me" She lowered her feet until they hit the cold floor, she flinched slightly at the unpleasant feeling, pulling herself out of the bed, not the greatest start to the day, but they could manage

. . .

The day carried out as expected, working on the ship until they couldn't work anymore, the wiring was jumbled into all the wrong ports, they had made Maron work on it, being the smallest sibling, it went slowly and he got quite frustrated with them, it went slowly, but Thera tried to keep him company, sitting beside him as he dug through the bottom panels of the ship, cursing loudly every time the wires would burn his fingers, she had to try not to laugh, remembering how he had been the one quickest to pick up language like that when they were young, much to Nora's dismay

"You should be wearing gloves for this," She told him, though it was far past the point of gloves, "Gloves are too thick for wirework" He simply added, she didn't see why it was so important, they were selling it anyway, it didn't need to be indistinguishable from being bought brand new

"Look" He mumbled to her, grabbing her attention as she peered inside to see what was so important, she connected a few more pieces, and pushed the panel back into place, "And we're done" It took a moment to register, but she smiled when she realized he was right. That was it. Only took a few months of hard work, and they were much closer to their goal already

"We should celebrate, I'll gather everyone, you get the credits?" She suggested, he was quick to silently agree as they stood up, she skidded to a halt at the back of the shop, grabbing their attention quickly and informing them, Maron had gone to a different room where they had kept their money in a small safe

"Thera?" Maron called, she went inside to see what was wrong as he pointed to the safe, "You didn't move the credits, right?" Her brow quickly furrowed in concern, "No? What do you mean?" He moved out of the way, revealing the case to be completely empty, the rest of the family looking in from the door, she turned to them, about to ask the question, but from the looks on their faces, she already knew the answer, "Nobody?"

This was in the fear started to set in, they had worked months for the money, they couldn't afford to lose everything, not this far in. Anure had just come back from another grueling day, his hands shaking from burns that covered them, he stashed them in his pockets as he went to see what the commotion was about

"No, no if none of us took it then who did? Which one of you is a liar?" Lakona quickly turned against everyone in the group, "Thera happens to be the one lock pick in the family and now the money is gone? The one night she didn't sleep with the rest of us in the back room? Think about it. You and your little boyfriend were just planning to take it and run, weren't you? But you stayed, hoping we wouldn't notice until it was too late" 

Thera put her hands up, backing away as her sister crept towards her, "Woah, okay okay look! I didn't do it! Why would I if I wasn't just going to run immediately? I wouldn't turn on you guys!" Shiya watched her carefully, she looked at him with pleading eyes, which only received a cold turn away in response, "Please! Please don't make me defend myself like this! What reasons would I have?"

Lakona laughed just low enough to be heard, "You act so innocent, you're the only one of us with a good enough life to want to continue it! I bet you've always wanted some simple home life, raising children with your loving husband? Acting like you were never a criminal?" Lakona grabbed her collar, lifting her into the air while Thera struggled against her grip, digging her nails into her wrist to stop her, but somehow she didn't, "You would leave us at the slightest chance! Don't pretend to be my sister Thera, because you and I both know-" 

Anure pushed through the rest of them at the door, grabbing Lakona by the leg and pulling it out from under her, she screamed and dropped Thera, "Don't you EVER! Speak to her like that again!" His hand found her neck, lifting her and slamming her forehead into the wall, it warranted a scream from not only her but Nora, who ran to stop him, nonsensically pleading with him not to kill her while tears streamed down her face

Thera lifted herself from the ground, her sister had been knocked unconscious, bleeding from her forehead, "Don't hurt her!" She called out, Anure dropped the twi'lek who slumped to the ground, shaking in his anger, Nora rushed to grab her daughter and tried to wake her, stroking her face with her shaking hands, Anure finally spoke again, "Did it not occur to any of you, that the most likely person in this household to steal all the money, would be my alcoholic mother?"

He looked between everyone who only watched him, he was right, he let out a shrill laugh, "You're kidding me!" Shiyu immediately left to find her, everyone but Nora and Lakona following in pursuit, Anure slammed his fist into her door, hearing a slight answer he kicked it open

Elara stood wobbly on her feet, pulling her jacket closer, blaster pointed directly at him, "Look at me...some little detective huh? I shouldn't have let you been born, that or I should have killed myself afterward...doesn't matter now. Just try to stop me, if you do, you're a click away from life in prison" In her opposite hand she held a communicator, if she were to send the message, they couldn't reverse it, and the coordinates would be sent to the exact people who didn't need them. They were deathly still, watching her as a sick, twisted smile spread across her face

"Thank you for this though, I wouldn't have been able to get out of this shithole without it" She gestured to the large bag of credits hanging from her hip, Anure growled, lunging forward and knocking her to the ground, her back hit the ground with a snap, her arm pressed behind her and shattered, a blood-curdling scream ran through the entire building, the communicator fell a few feet away, Thera grabbed it, but the message had been sent. And there was no way to reverse it

Anure pulled himself off of her as she tried to crawl away, he stomped his foot on her back leg to hold her in place, guttural sobs coming from Elara as she tried with no avail to free herself, "Anure, she did it already" Thera held it into the air, all of the family realizing what had happened

Maron pulled the blaster off his hip, shooting Shiyu in the head, brain matter flying across the room and coating the walls as he fell dead, Maron pointed the blaster to Thera next, but Shiya slammed him into the floor, grabbing the blaster from him, Anure and Thera ran out the room as the struggle continued, Thera wanted to grab Shiya, to bring him with her, but she had no time, Maron thrashing violently as he held him down, Shiya screaming for her to run while Elara had enough time to make her getaway 

It wasn't fair. The one person who should have made it out, and he gave up his spot for her. Thera screamed for her brother, Anure pulling her back as he ran to the ship, tears harboring at her eyes, another blaster shot went off, the struggle persisted, and then before she knew it she was inside the ship, Anure had pushed her inside before he ran to open the gate, the roof slowly moving into separate pieces as he got back inside the ship, starting it as quickly as he could, Thera had crumpled to the floor, shaking from everything she had seen. Her life again, changed in an instant, and she no longer had a home. not even a family. It was her and Anure now. They would have to rebuild the best they could, but the new loss hurt her deeply, one that he didn't quite share, never could

The ship rose into the sky, getting to a high altitude as he searched through the planet list for anywhere they would be safe, "Gatalenta. A farming planet, they won't look for us there" He had forgotten about the Nightcrew. She hadn't, but couldn't speak in the moment, only slowly nodding as she wrapped her arms around herself for comfort. Maybe the planet was small enough that nobody would find them, she had never heard of it before. Gatalenta. It was the beginning of a new life for her, and she couldn't screw this one up. Not this time

. . .

Gatalenta was a nice planet. Tropical enough in the summer to grow plants surprisingly well, but cool enough in the winter you didn't need to move. After landing, they had sold the ship as quickly as they could, putting together a plan for life. It was strangely nice. She wasn't a criminal anymore. She didn't fare well as a farmer, but it turned out that Anure did. They bought a small home in the outskirts of one of the smaller cities, the farmland larger than the home itself. Nobody knew their names, and they changed them for that reason. Thera Ono. That's who she knew herself as before, and she was in love with Anure Rel. They eloped together on a small hill, trusting it to only themselves, and took a new last name. Ulvin. She rather liked the sound of it, much better than her last, last name. He had thought of it. Now they were just the Ulvin's, a quiet couple that lived away from everyone else, not criminals

Law enforcement on the planet was loose, lucky for them, and they were almost never spoken to. The biggest export from the planet was tea leaves, and Anure decided to become a part of that, using the land they had to grow the tall, flowering plants, it bloomed beautiful purple flowers, the elders on the planet would crush them into a fine powder and use them as a dye, purple and red scarves were a staple on the planet, occasionally other colors

Today, in particular, was the anniversary of the day she found out what happened. It wasn't huge, but on the holonet they had broadcast something from the Corellian defense team. Nora, Lakona, Maron, and Shiya. All captured. Elara was never found, something that made her blood run cold. Maron and her mother were both sentenced to death row, it sickened her to hear for her mother, but in his last moments, she had learned to agree with the sentence for her brother

Lakona and Shiya would serve several life sentences, longer than they deserved, and they knew, longer than they would live for. On this day, every year, she would go to one of the several shrines located on the planet, dedicated to certain people deemed remarkable. Jedi, they were called. She would kneel before the steps, saying everything she had to say to the figure, it would fall on deaf ears for most, but she believed somebody was out there, hearing her prayers, and thanks to her brother

She returned from the shrine, gently opening the door to her home, coming up on the fifth year of living on the planet, Anure was waiting for her, Varen had waited too, but she fell asleep against her father. Varen was their firstborn, three years old, but in a few months she would turn four, she was the first to really have the last name Ulvin. "I don't understand why you won't just let me go with you," Anure started when she lifted her sleeping child, taking her to her room to rest

"It's important I do it alone, plus, you don't even believe in jedi. So don't start with that" He grumbled about it a bit more, nothing that was actually a valid claim, she ignored it as she went to make herself tea, pulling a small container from the cargo boxes they had, full of the leaves he had harvested, which would be exported soon

"You know if you keep doing that I'm not going to have any more to sell, we need that" She laughed slightly, pouring water she boiled into the cup, "Don't fuss about it, I need it, it soothes nausea from your son better than anything else"

He rolled his eyes, looking back at her as she took out the teabag, stirring her drink, "You always say that, it's been two months and you always say that, why are you so sure it's going to be a boy anyway?" She lifted her shoulders a bit, sipping from the mug, "I just know, don't ask questions, you aren't the pregnant one"

Another sudden burst of nausea, she almost threw up, stopping herself and taking another long drink of tea, it made it easier to deal with, from the heat, and having something else to think about, he put his hand onto her arm, just as the feeling left, she cracked a joke so he wouldn't need to see how uncomfortable it was, "If it's a girl then I'll tell you what, you can name her whatever you want, but it's a boy, then I'm naming him" He agreed with a smile, allowing it, "I'm sure you already have a name picked out in the event it's a boy, then"

"Well, of course, I thought about it even only a few months after Varen was born, and it fits with the naming standard for the planet" Oh the naming standard, it was a strange thing, but not uncommon. Secondborn children had to have their first name slightly altered so they could show off their parent's line of work, and their childs would be the most common ending, yes, but it didn't matter to her

"I was thinking Taronaii. It's allowed, and it's cute. We could call him Taro for short" Anure leaned back, thinking about the name, and eventually nodding his head in agreement over the name, "Probably better than what I could think of...Taro Ulvin" From the sound of how he said it, she was realizing she must be right. That would be the name they went with, and she couldn't wait to see just who Taro would turn out to be


	2. Burns

Silence

Taronaii was completely silent, pressing his back to the wall and keeping his hand over his mouth, his fingers were freezing, the thin gloves not enough to protect him from the elements, but he stayed as silent as ever, barely letting himself breathe as he listened for the sound of boots crunching in the snow that circled in a rhythm, eyes shut tight as anxiety swirled in the bottom of his stomach. Maybe she wouldn't notice him?

The sounds of footsteps began to fade, leaving for the opposite direction, he took his palm off his mouth and released a small snort of laughter, recognizing his mistake right after he made it, now he heard the footsteps come running back, he jumped up and started to move, but there was already a hand around his arm, yanking him back, "I got you Taro!" He struggled against her grip and tried to pull himself free, but it was no use, he looked back at her with a glare, "It's not fair! You always win!"

Varen grinned devilishly, pinching his arm which made him jump back in shock, "You just suck at hiding" "I do not!" "Oh yes you do, you always hide out here because you think I won't notice, and now once again, you'll be doing all the chores" He huffed, shivering slightly as he started to walk back to the house, she bent down, gathering a ball of snow into her gloved hands and shaping it, throwing it at the back of his head. It hit dead center in his neck, spilling down the back of his jacket, Taronaii turned back and ran towards her, growling in anger, "Stop it Varen!"

She laughed, "Or what? You can't do anything, you're not even tall enough to get your coat out of the closet without my help!" Taro huffed and ran towards her, ramming into her legs and knocking her down. Varen screamed, falling backward from the force of it, her face had scraped against the frozen edge of a storage box sitting next to her, lightly cutting her cheek. Taronaii stepped back, and realized what he did as remorse filled his eyes and blood trickled down her chin, he raised his hands and went to her side, she placed her palm to her face, fingers grazing along the side of her cut, it burned against the cold air, seeping into her dark skin, a muffled and choked sob escaped her, she pushed herself off the ground and ran back to their home, leaving him to run after her, "I didn't mean to!"

She burst through the front door, startling Thera, who had been relaxing against the couch as she read, nearly dozed off, "Mom! Taro hurt me again!" Thera sat up and rubbed her eyes, standing as Varen ran to her, she could see a stripe of red across her cheek, pulling her closer and taking a look, she was cut alright, it was rather shallow, only just enough to barely draw blood, Taro came through the door just then, looking as guilty as he always did when he had done something wrong, Thera gave him a stern look, he didn't meet her eyes and looked at his shoes

Thera took Varen into the bathroom, grabbing alcohol from under the counter and a small cotton square, dabbing the liquid onto it, "This will hurt, alright?" Varen nodded, and she pressed it to her cut, the girl sharply inhaled and held back her tears, Thera wiped her cut dry and made sure nothing could be infected, grabbing a long bandage and placing it onto the cut, Taronaii slowly poked his head around the corner, looking up to his mother and sister, "Varen, what happened?" Varen grumbled looking at Taro, crossing her arms as the pain subsided, "I won the game this week, so Taro got angry and knocked me over, and my face got cut"

Thera looked to her younger child, he already knew the question she was about to ask, "She won and threw snow down my jacket, so I pushed her down, and she got hurt because of me" Thera put together the two sides, seeing the taunting that Varen had conveniently left out of her side, "Okay, so, both of you say sorry to each other" Both children groaned, "I don't want to hear it! You're both old enough to know better, now apologize" Varen reluctantly offered her hand for him to shake, "I'll be nicer or something, even though you're bloodthirsty" Taronaii was about to shake her hand, pulling back and scowling, "I'm not bloodthirsty!" She stuck her tongue out at him, Thera sighed as her children ran off, Varen continuing to taunt him

How tiring it was, practically raising two children by yourself for most of the day until your husband came back, he was always so exhausted from his work, either tending to the plants or lugging cargo to the nearest town, they didn't own a land speeder, though they really should have. Taronaii had turned seven in the past week, he was easy enough to care for, a quiet and sweet child, he reminded her of his father, but Varen, eleven now, often taunted him until he revolted, she understood he never meant to hurt her, but it was all too common that he ended up causing injury, as calm and quiet as he may be, he was surely as reckless as his sister could be

The door swung open again, Thera peered out to see Anure coming back from work, holding his head in his hands as the door closed, she frowned, "Another tough day?" Anure only grunted in response, ripping off his gloves and throwing them onto the counter, slumping into the nearest chair as he picked up his boots and undid the latches, "You can't keep letting it get to you, take shorter shifts, please Anure, we didn't come out here to settle down for you to only see our family for a few hours every day!" He looked up, a blank stare in his eyes, "And you don't know why I spend so much time out there? Like before we came here, we're barely scraping by and I won't have a family to come home to if I can't afford food for them"

Thera huffed, her jaw tightening, "I know that! But you choose to work longer than you need to so we can have a backup like last time, we have enough! You do so much and I barely even get enough time to say goodbye to you in the morning before you're out the door, do you understand how hard it is for me to care for two children when you're out making the money that we don't need! We aren't going anywhere! We barely have anything to pay for except food!" Anure stood up off the chair, gripping onto the table, "I do as much as I can, I bring in enough money to support our family, I buy food! I buy clothes! I do everything that we need and I even do extra! Varen never needed another scarf, but I got another one for her because she wanted it, I do so much and you only tell me about what I don't do! I thought this was supposed to be a relationship where we share the burdens, and I do what I can but you can't keep telling me I'm not doing enough! I'm never enough and I'm sick of hearing it!"

Anure glared at her every time he paused, she hated it, if she could stop all of it from happening she would, she would go back, beg him to take shorter hours before so many problems could arise from it, "You're telling me that you can't take on any more work? That you have it so horribly awful and couldn't possibly change a single thing? You act like me suggesting you change your schedule is controlling, like I'm taking advantage of you when all I want is for you to be more present! You say how you never want to be like your mother but you're practically becoming her!" Anure slammed his hands into the sides of his head, covering his ears, Thera jumped backward in shock as his hands fell back to his sides, then raised in a pointing finger to her

"DON'T, you EVER, compare me to that woman again! I don't want her to even be called my mother!" Thera shook lightly as she raised her hands in front of her, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, please, Anure I didn-" Anure realized what he was doing, backing away as his shoulders went down, his face filled with remorse, "No, no I'm sorry...I should have just listened to you, I made a big deal out of nothing" The tears harbored at Thera's eyes were gently spilling down her cheeks, he slowly extended his arms, she stumbled over and rested her head against his chest, his arms tightened around her, "I'm sorry"

What was the stress doing to him? He shouldn't have let it get this bad, he was screaming at her over a minor disagreement, he didn't feel like himself. In fact, thinking about it, he had made this mistake over and over. The past week, an old vase that was crafted delicately was shattered, his youngest cowering guiltily as he swept it into a tray. Anure had screamed at Taronaii for that, and the boy hadn't met his eyes since, he had yelled at him over everything it seemed, the child got into such trouble while not meaning to, Anure didn't know what else to do to discipline him. He yelled at him as his own mother would, and when he realized that Thera had been truthful in what she said the closer he looked, the surge of guilt he felt was nearly overwhelming

"Once I've gotten through the current contract I'll put in a request for fewer hours, that should be in two weeks or so, is that alright?" Thera nodded, pulling away and wiping her eyes as she took a deep breath, steadying herself, strangely, her leg shook, it had never done that before, but she chalked it up to just being anxious. He started again, "I shouldn't have let it get this bad, really, I'm sorry" She shook her head, "Don't, it's alright, just.." She reached to take his hands, pulling them closer to her and encapsulating them in her own, "We did so much to get here....and I don't want to see you taking it for granted, I want a new future, but it's like you've lost sight of that, you still stay stuck in the mindset of the past and I can't take it anymore"

Anure nodded, mulling over what she had said in his mind as the sense of guilt still stayed profoundly strong, "Plus...I've been feeling a little sick recently. Should something happen to me, I want t-" Anure stopped her, raising his hands, "Don't go there, just get some medicine and you'll be fine" After a long silence, he spoke again, "I.....I think I'm going to take a walk" Thera released his hands and backed away with a simple nod, wiping her eyes once again and clearing her throat, he looked down the hall to the back of the house and slowly stepped forward, eventually finding himself at the door to his children's and slowly tapped on the door, pushing it open when there was no response

Varen sat on her bed, Taronaii right next to her, "Why do I look like that?" He asked her, looking over the paper she held, "Because you're ugly, obviously" Once Anure cleared his throat, the children realized he had been watching, and Varen's face flushed dark with embarrassment, he stepped forward and stretched out his hand for the paper, which she gave him. It was one of her drawings, in her crude style it depicted her and her brother, but he was drawn with.....not very accurate features. Anure chuckled, setting down the paper and switching to a much sterner face, "That's not very kind, Varen. You'll have to be helping me in the field tomorrow"

The girl groaned, looking away with a scowl and mumbling, "Fine" In a small voice. Anure turned to his other child, he kept his eyes on his crossed legs, "Taro, come with me. We're going on a walk into town" He nodded and hopped off the bed, grabbing his coat and scarf as he followed his father out of the door, putting on the clothing as quick as he could to prepare for the cold, shivering as the draft of the suddenly opened front door hit him right as he buttoned the top of his coat up, "Taro," Anure started, stepping down the front steps as his son followed closely, shutting the door, "Your sister had a bandage on her face, I assume that was another accident?"

Taronaii continued to stare at the ground, their footsteps left behind them in the snow, "Sort of...I didn't mean for her to get cut, but I.." Anure shook the small amount of snow that had fallen into his hair from the trees out and glanced back, "But you did do it on purpose" Taronaii nodded, rubbing his hands together, he had forgotten to grab his gloves, "Yes, I got mad at her, knocked her over" Anure sighed, putting all the pieces together, "I see. Taro, you always mean well, but you hurt other people. Namely your sister, and I need you to get better. Varen can be quite taunting at times, but every single time you retaliate against her and hurt her. I wish you could see a better way, not to submit, but to reason with her"

The silence lasted for longer than Anure hoped it would last, he held in the disappointment and reminded himself that Taro was still only a child, he couldn't expect so much from him, but he sensed something underneath the shy and quiet exterior Taronaii often kept around him, the ability to become something great, more than what Anure had ever, or could ever achieve. But he was unable to ever focus the ability into something other than violence. It frustrated Anure. "I love you, Taro, and that's why I want to see you grow and get better. Just, think before you act, alright?" He heard a hum from behind him and knew that he wouldn't get any more from him, deciding to drop the topic. He wanted to fix the somewhat broken relationship they had, the neglectful tendencies he had acquired were doing him no good, and it must have been especially hurtful to Taronaii 

As they continued their stroll into town, more buildings began to spring up, along with the folk of the town. The population was mostly human, but it brought along all kinds, it wasn't uncommon to see people with many scars, or missing limbs. The planet was known for how peaceful it was, and therefore brought people who had been through hell, just looking for a calm place to call home. Even if he didn't like to think of it like that, Anure and his wife were some of those people. They continued on, eventually passing the main shrine of the town. Anure stopped, Taronaii hadn't been looking where he was going and walked into his back, falling onto his rear. "Ow.." He groaned, taking his father's hand to get back to his feet, brushing off the snow and dirt on his pants

"What do you think of the force?" Anure asked, Taronaii making a questioning expression, "What I mean to say is do you believe in it" Anure explained, "Oh! Yes, I do. Mama tells me about it sometimes, about the people who can use it. I wish I could do something like that" Anure wasn't surprised, he knew Thera to believe in it, though he didn't. Jedi were a myth made to inspire hope in the galaxy when there was none, but he saw the intellect in clinging onto that hope. He looked up to the glass mosaic, the window of the shrine, it depicted a woman who was said to be the one Jedi from Gatalenta, there were images of her all over the planet, Anure couldn't remember her name, but Taronaii might

"And what do you think of her?" He gestured to the glass, the depicted woman had fair skin, bright blue, knowing eyes, and long golden hair, it flowed through the entire image, spread like a fan, he supposed it was some sort of display of her ability in the force. "She's pretty" Taronaii admitted sheepishly, Anure attempted not to laugh, but a few snorts escaped, "That's-" He laughed again and quickly stifled himself, "Taro, that's not what I meant, I meant as a person, as a Jedi" Immediately, Taronaii's already fairly dark skin had flushed even darker around his cheeks, he lifted his hands to cover his face, "Sorry". Once they both had calmed down, Taronaii answered his question, "I think she must have been powerful, I understand why everyone here sees her as important. Maybe someday I could be famous too, then everybody here would like me, just how they like her" It was unexpected for Anure that Taronaii respected her so much, but maybe he knew less about his son than he thought he did, "Maybe someday"

. . .

As Anure had promised, after the week ended he was able to request less time, to be with his family more, and was granted fewer hours. It had been another two weeks since then, things were going well, and they were all happy to see it. He was working to fix his mistakes, and it mattered. Thera rubbed the back of her neck, her muscles sore. As much as her body ached, she needed to get out of bed eventually and face the day. She stretched and lowered herself, her feet hitting the ground, as soon as he stood she could feel the pain stretching up from her heels to her calves, it was almost unbearable. She leaned into the bedstand to her right, gripping the side of it as her legs shook, she took a shaky breath and pushed herself to stand again, able to deal with the pain as she took strained steps forward. Anure had left already, "I'll be alright, it's just a fever," She told herself, struggling into the kitchen and grabbing the medication to numb the pain

She took more than she should have, but a normal dosage wouldn't do enough. She stood there, slumped against the counter, taking labored breaths, she knew she caught something small a week or two ago, her struggle to breathe lead her to believe it was a fever in her lungs, but it escalated quicker than she expected. She didn't want anybody to worry about her, keeping it quiet, but she was finding it increasingly difficult to struggle through. She decided to do what she should have done long ago, when Anure told her, and get medicine. There was a nurse in the town that others often went to, he didn't charge for his services, and if Thera paid a visit to figure out what was wrong with her body and medicate herself, nobody would need to worry. She could feel her legs becoming numb from what she had taken, limping to the closet to get a coat, pulling it around herself and leaving her home

. . .

Thera laid down across the steel medical table in the man's home, taking a deep breath while he lit incense, the scent wafting through the room, it calmed her. "What did you say your name was again?" The togruta male glanced to her, blowing out his match and disposing of it, "Foreen, Alba Foreen" He answered, his voice gentle and light, Thera assumed he was in his mid-fifties, his lekku were at the start of his hips, they didn't seem to bother him. She realized he couldn't be the typical kind of nurse, not traditionally medical, but spiritual. She should have realized sooner, with the planet being deeply rooted in tradition, thoughts of doubt crossed her mind, Thera shook them off, but her fingers still danced at her sides with anxiety

"You have trouble moving without pain, yes?" He asked, she nodded, "I could barely stand when I got up this morning, it was a struggle to get here" Alba nodded and closed his eyes as he stood over her, taking in a deep breath before reopening them, grabbing her arm and flexing it upward, she let out a cry from the sudden sharp pain, he let go of her arm, nodding. "I see now, this isn't uncommon, but it saddens me to see another person suffering at its hand" Thera bit down on the inside of her cheek to bear with the pain, turning her head slowly towards him, "What are you talking about?" Alba placed his hand on his face, his expression grim, "I know not the name, but it is a disease of the muscle. It eats away at you, slowly, so painful" She didn't want to hear that, scrunching her face and shaking her head, "But how do I treat it?"

He went to his table, grabbing multiple types of herb and placing it in a mortar, slowly grinding it as a thin laugh escaped him, "Fix it? My child, there is no cure for this, you might live, but it won't be easy, the chance isn't large. My advice?" Once he had finished grinding the herb, he poured water inside, making a thick liquid. He stepped to her, lifting it to her mouth, she drank as there was nothing else to do, recoiling at the bitter taste, "Numb yourself as much as you can, and once you have figured out how to do that, prepare your family" He took away the bowl and set it down, she wiped her mouth with a shaking hand and looked up to the tall man, "You mean-" The togruta sadly smiled, a pitiful expression, "I've never seen a case of your severity that hasn't resulted in organ failure. You have time left, but it is running out. Use it wisely, and try to leave something behind for your loved ones"

With that, he went to the door, opening it for her and grabbing a walking stick, shoving it into her palm as she slowly got down from the table, resting her weight onto it as she struggled past the door, whatever he had given her comforted her pain, but it didn't make the strain much better. "Goodbye, Thera. May the force be with you" 

After that, she had slowly walked home as it became real to her, tears flowing down her face. She didn't want to die, not so soon, not when her children were so young. Before she could get inside she fell against the step of the front porch, sobbing loudly, after a few minutes, the door creaked open. "Mom?" Rang the familiar voice of her eldest, she slowly picked up her head, looking at Varen as best she could. "What's wrong? What happened, a-are you hurt?" The girl's voice slowly became more panicked, looking around to see if anyone had done something to her mother, "I'm alright, just, help me get inside...I can't walk"

. . .

In the following weeks, Thera found she couldn't downplay her condition anymore, as soon enough she couldn't will herself to walk at all, and was bound to her bed. The disease was slowly breaking her, physically, and mentally. Days passed without her realizing anything was different, as winter turned to spring and her favorite flowers began to grow, the only way she could see them was in a vase beside her. Her children were growing, but she wouldn't live long enough to see their next birthdays. Nobody knew how long she had left, but Thera could feel it slipping from her day by day, she became weaker, Anure had completely stopped going to work to care for her, but the added time with him didn't make her happy, it only hurt, she could see the hope leaving him

"I went to the river today," Taronaii told her, his voice soft and sorrowful, he sat next to her and held her hand, he often came to tell her things and keep her company, "Varen was with me, she tried to catch a fish, but ended up slipping and falling in. I had to pull her out" He giggled with the last words, Thera mustered a smile and wished she had been able to come with them to see it, "I'm lucky I wasn't the one to fall in, I can't swim yet, but you said once you got better that you would teach me" Of course, she had told him she would get better, she was unable to tell him otherwise, but she knew he was a smart child, he had figured it out, but he acted like he didn't, maybe for himself, or for her. She betted on the latter.

She almost spoke before the door to the room opened, Anure entered and went to her side, Taronaii moved to make space, he immediately took hold of her hands and went close to Thera, "How are you feeling?" Thera slowly took one of her hands back, shaking it slightly from side to side, he looked over her body with the sad expression he now commonly wore

"Anything more for the pain?" She shook her head, Taronaii watched them before withdrawing from the room, coming back a few moments later with Varen by his side. He climbed back onto the bed and curled up into her side, staying quiet, Varen stayed next to the bed, resting her head near her mother's, Thera turned to gently press a kiss onto her forehead, Varen hummed lightly in response. She hadn't been acting out nearly as much, in normal circumstances Thera would have loved to see her daughter mature like this, but it wasn't normal circumstances, and she hadn't matured so suddenly because she wanted to, Thera knew that. 

Suddenly, it felt like her lungs had been crushed, despite having no weight on her chest, erupting into a fit of coughing and gasping for air, Anure hurriedly pushed the children out of the room, going back to her and helping her sit against the headboard. Slowly, the pressure went, and she could breathe once more, her heart beat rapidly, any time now, that could happen again, but she would not be relieved of the pressure. "It's happening soon, I know it will" She choked out, he shook his head, "I...I thought we had more time! It took control of you so rapidly and I don't.." He placed his hands onto his face to hide his tears, elbows sinking into the bed, "I don't think I could do this without you Thera, not so soon, the children are so young and until just now you were the one caring for them, I can't do that! I don't know how to do what you did because you're stronger than me, you always have been, I can take care of them but I can't raise them, not as you could"

Thera outstretched her hand, he took his own off his face and she fit his cheek into her palm, sadly smiling, tears in her eyes, "You don't have a choice. You have to" She swept away his tears to the best of her ability, and then she felt it. Something, maybe it was her own subconscious, or maybe it was the force, it warned her, and she was grateful for it. "Oh," She started, hot tears spilling down her own face, he picked up his face and it flushed with realization, "No, no no no, not now, not-" She closed her eyes and looked to him one last time, the pressure came again, "Goodbye, my love" She whispered, shutting her eyes in response to the pain, coughing as she tried to get air to her collapsing airways, she didn't fight it as strong as she had before. "Thera! Thera you'll be alright you have to fight it!" Anure yelled, knowing she had given up, "No, Thera please! Thera!"

Behind the door, Varen and Taronaii had never left, listening to their parent's conversation and his mother's struggle, Taronaii's eyes went wide when he realized how his father was pleading with her. He didn't get to say goodbye, and as her son, he had the right to see her as she passed, grabbing the door handle. "No!" Varen yelled, shoving his hand away and wrapping her arms around his midsection, dragging him back, away from the door, "Let me go! LET ME GO!" He screamed, kicking and clawing at her arms, desperate to see her before it was too late, Varen held tight, "You don't understand! If you see her like that it will haunt you! I know it will!" Taronaii continued to push, biting into Varen's arm, she shrieked and dropped her brother, he fell to the ground but quickly got to his feet, reaching for the door again

"Stop it Taro!" Before he could grab the doorknob, Varen grabbed onto his ankle, pulling him back, he fell and slammed his face into the floor, a headache immediately starting, "Let me see her!" Another attempt to get to his feet was stopped by his sister, she pulled him backward, and he heard through the door their father screaming their mother's name louder than he had before, followed by a loud sob. "No, no no! I didn't get to say goodbye!" Taronaii stopped, going still, then curling into a ball and sobbing into his knees, mewling softly. Varen wouldn't allow herself to cry yet, shaking, she wouldn't accept that she was dead yet. Thera was gone, and even without seeing her corpse, he knew it. Neither of them got to say goodbye, but the universe was cruel sometimes, unforgiving to the young. It was true what they said, death doesn't discriminate.

. . .

The months afterward either dragged on endlessly or went by in a blur, nothing was normal after Thera had died, and Anure was least normal of all. He hadn't been going to work at all, but it didn't change how available he was for his children, locking himself in his room for days straight, they could hear his cries throughout the day, but had no idea how to help him. It forced Varen to take care of the home with help from her brother, though neither of them was the homemaker their mother had been, the corners of the ceiling were coated in dust and insects. The flowers that Thera loved had stopped growing, the days began to get warmer, the tall grass sprung around the home and in the fields, choking the bushes with weeds, dead leaves covered the ground, unswept and trampled under the feet of animals

Anure just couldn't care anymore, it didn't matter if they weren't there for him, he had felt like this before when he was young, when he only had an absent mother. He laid in the center of the floor, he didn't want to do it again, he wouldn't do it again, he refused to do it again, the torment was something nobody could bear with. Anure clutched his hands to his chest, where it felt there was a gaping hole, he desperately missed everything about Thera, he would even beg to relive the bad memories, the memories when she was mad at him, the memories when she cried because of him, he just needed her back, but there was nothing he could do. The rest of her lived in him, only in pieces, pieces that were fading with the months

What was done was done, and Thera was gone, forever. The way she smiled would only come to him in brief glimpses, the way she could soothe him with only a touch, it was just a burning memory. Anure forced himself to stand, and slowly walked out the home, through the dying fields outside of it, and through the brush grass, walking until eventually, he got to it. Her grave. Kept near the outskirts of town, graves of others speckled around the area, hers the newest by far. He fell in front of it, reading over the name and information at least a thousand times, "Mother to Varen and Taro" He knew eventually, that would be the name of his youngest, names changed frequently on Gatalenta, second borns and so on would have a shortening of the of their original, signifying the death of both parents. They had already lost a middle name, Varen J'Hani Revei Ulvin had become Varen Revei Ulvin after Thera passed, having the signifier that their mother was alive struck from the record

Anure rested his forehead into the headstone, mumbling things he always said, prayers that the darkness would lift, followed by wishing for his own death, he couldn't go on without her, and he didn't want to. What was the point? His children, even if he didn't like to think so, had abandoned him to his own devices.

On the opposite edge of town, Varen sat at the cliff over the river they visited almost every night, it calmed her, the sound of it. Taronaii was behind her, eerily silent, but he didn't talk a lot nowadays, he kept things to himself that he would have shared a year ago. Varen was twelve now, Taro would be turning eight the following month, but there was no anticipation for it. Anure had forgotten Varen's birthday, and he would forget Taronaii's too. She fiddled with a small knife in her hand, cutting the stems of plants into small pieces, they would be heading home soon. "What are you thinking about?" She heard her brother's voice from behind her, she closed her knife and shoved it into her pocket, "If the future will get better, if dad will get better" She answered

"I hope that he will, he barely does anything but cry about mom," Taronaii said, fiddling with his fingers and the wind blew through the deep brown hair that had almost grown to his shoulders, Varen's reaching down her back, "He thinks we don't want to be in his life because we were busy struggling with our own grief, he's so...stupid" Varen hissed, she had once been so close with her father, she would have always stuck by him and helped him, but he had been the one to push them away, too blinded to see that they needed him, it made her realize just how foolish her father was, and she began to resent him, "I mean, wouldn't you think that instead of pushing us off he would at least try? We're his kids! He's supposed to care for us and mom told him to, but still, he doesn't!"

She had turned to look at Taronaii as she yelled, he watched her but stayed silent, leaving a space filled with the sound of the river when neither of them spoke, "He just needs to understand that we don't just stop being children because he made us grow up," Varen filled the silence, "He should learn eventually, maybe it's only for a little while that he'll be like this" Taronaii mumbled, Varen shook her head, "He's been doing this for months! I'm so sick of having a father who won't talk to me and a dead mom! I just thought...." She pressed her face into her knees, losing the words, "Nevermind, let's go home"

. . .

Had Anure Rel forgotten about them? He disappeared from the planet without a trace, Selba assumed that he had run away, trying to escape, but The Nightcrew didn't forget, and they didn't forgive, either. It took a long time to search through every backwater planet and find the man, eventually, somebody looked into a little place called Gatalenta, finding someone with a matching first name. They found the photo used for his licenses, and then they were sure of it. It was the same man, his hair was longer and his scruff was instead a short beard, plus the different last name, but there was a scar across his cheek. That was the scar Selba had caused, striking him across the face with his pointed ring. It wouldn't take long to find his home, they knew the relative location, and it should have the last name on the front of it

Selba smiled, chin resting on his hand, he couldn't hide, and he couldn't run, he didn't know they were even coming. It was the perfect plan. "You two," Selba started, pointing toward two mercenaries he didn't care enough to learn the names of, "Take this" He handed the taller of them a datapad, it showed all the information they had on their target. "This is the face of a man who deserted our crew. I want you to find his home and burn it to the ash. Make sure, that he is inside" They did as they were told, getting on their ship and headed to the planet with the supplies to do the job. Justice came to those who did wrong, no matter how long it took

Selba pulled the short black tunic closer to his chest, they set themself up as a prominent crime syndicate in the past years, but he wanted more. He could branch out, taking control of other planets and their groups of interest, making them all work under him. The galaxy would fear them, and it was just what he wanted. He calmed himself, he was thinking too far ahead. 'One step at a time' He thought, as his lips curled into a smile again, and the next step would, of course, have to be taking out that idiot Anure, he was a lousy mechanic anyway, the galaxy would benefit from his loss. Things were finally falling into place, after all his hard work, and Selba couldn't be happier to see it

. . .

The next day, Varen and Taronaii stayed inside, only because he was too fearful to go out, having heard reports of mercenaries in the area. She was angry with him, but she couldn't do much about, 'Always keep your brother safe' She practically heard her mother's voice tell her. As she sat inside the home, fiddling with that old knife, a smell hit her, something she wasn't familiar with, pulling herself away from the seat and going to the window. She saw two men walking away from the home, they wore red jackets, she didn't recognize them, but figured it was nothing and went back to her seat. How terribly wrong she was. 

Anure was the first to realize what had happened, recognizing the scent of smoke, and he felt heat rising from the ground, sitting up when he realized the wall began to catch. A house fire. He watched it silently, it spread up the wall and then to the other, he looked back to the door, he could get out if he wanted to. No, he shook his head, this was what he had wanted, right? He could finally be with Thera again, and they would be at peace. The vast emptiness he felt would be gone, it would be the two of them, and nothing could get in the way. How he longed for that, dry laughter escaped him as he realized it. He wouldn't be getting out of this alive, and he was looking forward to it. He climbed toward the fire, smoke filling his lungs and eyes, he provided his sleeve as fuel for the fire, spreading down his arm until his whole body was alight, burning in agony. He bit into his fist to not scream, drawing blood, it was agonizing, but he would be rewarded. He thought of his wife while he burned, the smoke inhalation killing him before the fire did, all that remained of the broken man, in the end, was a burning corpse

Varen realized what was going on soon after, going out of their shared room and looking over the rest of the house, she caught the smell of smoke near their father's room, looking up at the ceiling and seeing embers falling, she ran back to the room, Taro picked his head up, looking around, "What's wrong?" She grabbed her money and a few other things she deemed important, "We need to get out, now! The house is on fire!" It took another moment before he realized what was going on, jumping up and looking around, grabbing the photograph on the shelf to his right, it showed him, his mother, and Varen, she was a toddler and he was a baby. Their mother's face was filled with such joy, laughing as their father's hand pulled her forward, Varen struggling not to slip from her grasp. It was the last surviving remnant of her that wasn't just a memory

Varen grabbed onto him, running to the door and grabbing the handle, she yelped in pain from the heat, but managed to yank it open, running through the hall which had filled with smoke. "Wait!" Taro yelled, looking at their father's door, "We can't leave him!" She looked to the door of his room and then to the front door, the wall next to it had caught, it would collapse soon enough, "We have to!" She screamed, running to their exit, she lost her grip on Taro's hand, getting to the front and looking back, only to see that he had disappeared into the smoke, going back for their father, "No, no no! Taro come back!" She went back to get him, seeing through the smoke as he dragged his fingers along the walls to find the right door, she reached for him, but the floor beneath her broke, she fell down to her hips, scratching her legs

The worst part was the smoke, it made her eyes burn as she tried to pull herself loose, the board next to her was hot, and as she pressed her face into it while she pulled herself up, she realized it was more than just hot, it was burning. She screamed, jumping backward and getting her feet out, she pressed her palm to her cheek and felt that the skin had melted, it was even more agonizing to touch

Taro realized she had been hurt, running back to her and seeing that the wall was about to collapse, he swallowed his fear and pulled Varen with him, knocking through the door, they rolled onto the ground and crawled away, coughing and gagging, Taro rubbed his eyes, looking to Varen and seeing the injury on her face, her arms shook, they must have been burned too. He climbed towards her, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I shouldn't have!" He cried, realizing what could fix it, "The river!" She could barely walk, her entire body shaking as tears streamed down her face, he pulled her upwards and struggled to support her weight

They eventually made it to the river, Taro stepped into the shallowest part and brought her with him, quickly pouring water onto her face and arms, it was cold enough to help, she coughed the water out of her mouth and pushed his hands back once she had enough, "I'm okay, I'm okay" She said, opening her eyes and looking around, maybe it was just the smoke but....she couldn't see as well through the eye on the left side of her face, where she had been burned. The hair on her head was burnt, hanging in pieces behind her, she grabbed her knife from her pocket, grabbing it and cutting more than half of it off, dropping it to float downstream. They looked back to where the house was, seeing a pillar of black smoke. Their father was dead, they were sure of it, and now, it was Taro and Varen Ulvin, all alone

. . .

The next week was unlike anything they had ever been through before, they hadn't gone back to the house, as it was completely destroyed, burnt to a pile of ash and metal. They tried to go into the city, but since there had been the reports of mercenaries, everyone had stayed inside, and there was nobody young or well enough to take in two children and be able to raise them. They trudged on, heading through parts of the planet they had never seen before, other, more colorful cities, they eventually found a place to stay in an old home that had a room in the back nobody was using, using it to keep their stuff in, Varen often continued to venture out in the day

"Trust me on this, he said he would help" Varen tried to reassure Taro, the injury on her face healing over into a prominent scar, Taro still remained skeptical, keeping their bag of gathered things close to his chest, he shook his head with a frown, opening his mouth to speak, "Don't assume before you meet him" Varen jutted back in, he shut his mouth, deciding it was better to not have this escalate into an argument. The children walked to the nearest hangar in town, he immediately recognized the man by his sister's description of him. He was tall, large, and most notably, covered in black Mandalorian armor

"Oh, good, you brought your brother" The man greeted, standing next to his ship, he bent down and extended a hand to Taro, one that he nervously shook, "My name is Newlon. Newlon Vex, and it has come to my attention that the two of you don't have a family, not anymore, at least. You see, I'm just trying to do the right thing, taking in young children like all of you and caring for them. The only catch, is that you'll have to help my group out a little, you'll be wearing armor, like me, and there will be a few rules, but other than that? A stable home to stay in, friends your age, and food to eat. What do you say?" Taro wasn't sure how to feel, he got the sense that there were some details that the man was leaving out, but he couldn't just refuse the offer, it was the best chance they had to not be living on the streets until the rest of their days

"We'll join," Varen said confidently, looking back to Taro and awaiting his response, tentatively, he nodded, "Alright" And that was that. Newlon perked up slightly, opening the hatch of the ship, as the two of them peeked inside, they could see that there were others inside, children as well, but they wore helmets to cover their faces, and protective clothing. "Welcome to the crew! What did you say that your names were again? Varen and what now?" Taro looked up to him, trying to find a face behind the visor to read him, "Taron- Sorry, Taro. Ulvin." He stumbled over to say, the older man nodded. Shepherding them into the ship and closing the hatch, the rest of the children lined up in a row to greet the newcomers

"This is everyone else, first, we have Caz" Newlon pointed to who seemed to be the oldest, a girl who might be around Varen's age, standing a little taller than the rest, she waved to them. "Then, we have Syren, and she is my daughter, so I don't want to see either of you two picking on her, alright? There will be consequences for your actions" The girl was a bit shorter than the rest, but she seemed to be somewhere close in age to Taro, her hands folded behind her back elegantly, "Then, last but not least, we have Crow here" The boy at the end of the line was much taller than the rest, he stayed very still, and only nodded when addressed, "Everyone, this is Varen and Taro. Our newest recruits" The others all mumbled a hello as Varen and Taro did

"Alright! Good. We'll be going back to our base of operations now, this was just a little supply run. Once we're there, you'll both be having your hair cut, and will be getting helmets like everyone else. Play nice, children" With that, Newlon disappeared into the cockpit, Taro took a seat with the younger two, and Varen sat next to Caz, the two immediately sparking up a discussion, "Speak only when spoken to, always call him sir, never Newlon, keep your hands behind you and never have a slouch or a hint of attitude in your voice, do you understand?" The boy named Crow started without any precursor, startling Taro slightly, he nodded, "You're scaring him! Look, don't worry about all the formalities, he's a little strict, but you'll get used to it" Syren cut in, Crow shook his head, "You get away with that for being his daughter, Taro here, won't be so lucky. Your entire life is changing after this point, but don't think it's gonna be easy"

Taro swallowed hard, suddenly riddled with anxiety and fear, he wanted to throw up. Everything told him it was a good idea, but now? He wasn't so sure. Was being a Mandalorian what he wanted? He didn't really know. But then again, everything was so hard to decide, and maybe things would look up and actually be something beneficial, "Yeah," Taro responded dryly, his palms feeling clammy, "Nice to meet you too"


End file.
